Project New Arrival
by Super-sonic Iblish
Summary: In the heat of battle, Eggman shoots Sonic and Knuckles with a familiar ray gun. When Knuckles awakes two weeks later, he finds out that Sonic has somehow disappeared and Eggman has taken over the city. A group of freedom fighters rescued Knuckles and explained what happened, and they have a theory of where the missing hedgehog may be, although it's hard to believe. Mpreg warning!
1. Prologue

_PS, this is a sequel to another story of mine, "Project Infant." It isn't required for you to read that one first, but it may make a little more sense._

_A sidenote: this story does contain Mpreg, or male pregnancy, so if you don't like it, please no spamming._

_Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails (c) Sega, not me._

* * *

**Project New Arrival**

Prologue:

Sonic dodged another missile attack with ease, and began to run backwards, facing Eggman's approaching fleet of air ships. With an exaggerated yawn, Sonic showed that he was having no trouble dodging the doctor's attacks. It was almost more difficult maneuvering around the screaming, running humans.

"Will you quit fooling around and deal with the matter at hand!" Sonic looked to Knuckles, who ran alongside him.

"What, it's not like this Egghead actually poses a real threat!" he replied carelessly, "He's all talk, and no action."

Just as Sonic spoke, another missile landed on a car right behind him, exploding a mere few feet behind the speedy hedgehog. The throwback of the explosion sent Sonic and Knuckles both flying forward, throwing Knuckles to the opposite side of the street and Sonic straight into a brick wall. There was a hole in the building's wall, and lone bricks crumbled around him as he groaned on the floor, but he recovered quickly and stood back up.

Knuckles moaned and sat up, placing a hand to his head. He stood up and walked across the street, then looked in through the hole Sonic had made in the wall.

"No real threat, huh?" he pried as he reached out a hand and lifted Sonic out of the building.

"Not my fault, you were distracting me," Sonic replied hastily, as he brushed the dust from his fur. Knuckles grumbled at Sonic, but didn't retort, knowing it wasn't the right time and place for that.

"Hey Egghead! Was that all ya' got?! I'm still standing over here!" Sonic called. As if to answer his call, the bottoms of the ships opened simultaneously and released hundreds of robots. The large robots crashed to the streets below, then began to shoot at running civilians and destroy escaping cars. The ships still hovered above the buildings and crashed against sky scrapers. Knuckles leapt out of the path of a falling chunk of building and glass, then ducked the laser beam of a shooting robot, and he quickly looked to Sonic.

"We have to stop Eggman before he completely destroys downtown!" Knuckles exclaimed. The hedgehog sighed as he brushed off his arms.

"I know," Sonic replied grimly, reaching behind his back. "Which means it looks like it's time for… Super Sonic!" he cried as he pulled out the 7 Chaos Emeralds. The cerulean hedgehog's fur began to shimmer and spike on end, as the wave of power swept over his flesh and pulsated through his muscles. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists tightly. Knuckles could feel the strong power emanating from him as the hedgehog's fur turned gold and his spines rose on end. A strong wind exploded from him, blowing Knuckles' spines in his face as he shielded his eyes. When the wind stopped, Sonic's eyes opened and turned to look at Knuckles, the red/orange irises of his Supersonic form glaring at him. He raised a hand in the air towards Knuckles, as a smirk appeared on his previously serious face. Knuckles made a slight smile and huffed as he stepped up and took Sonic's hand. He felt a familiar tingle of power as he held Sonic's hand tightly in his and shook it.

"You ready?" Sonic asked, his voice echoing. Knuckles closed his eyes and nodded. When he opened his eyes, they too glowed a furious red.

"Ready."

* * *

Tails looked up at the sound of shattering glass. Eggman's fleets of battleships were doing a lot more destruction to the city than they were used to. The young fox fastened one more bolt on the engine of the plane before he backed up and wiped at his forehead. He was busy trying to repair the plane, after it crash landed on the bridge outside of town.

"I hope Sonic and Knuckles are okay," Tails whispered to himself, as he watched the flying ships lay waste to the city below and heard the terrified screams of civilians. That's when he heard another kaboom, this one different from the other crashing sounds. What followed was a burst of wind and what sounded like a jet plane taking off. Curious, Tails climbed up onto the wing of the plane and looked out towards the city to see what'd happened. He gasped, for he saw two glowing beings rushing up at record-breaking speeds, a gold one and a lavender one. Immediately Tails knew it was Super Sonic and Hyper Knuckles, and he cheered and leapt into the air.

"Woohoo! Go Sonic go!" the fox cried, as the two figures crashed through a ship and out the other side. The ship sputtered and sparked, then fell from the sky and crashed to the streets below.

* * *

Super Sonic and Hyper Knuckles rushed at ship after ship, ripping out their engines or turbines and causing them to crash. However, it seemed as though their efforts were futile, for two more ships replaced every one they took out. Knuckles flew up to Sonic, panting heavily from exhaustion.

"It's no use Sonic! There's too many of them for just the two of us!" he shouted to him. Sonic finished attacking the ship he had, and allowed it to drop and explode before responding.

"Don't say that! We've just got to get to the mother ship and defeat that one, then the others would shut down as well!" Sonic replied between his tired breaths, and he looked up at the largest ship hovering above the others. Knuckles looked up as well.

This ship definitely was larger than the others; it was about the size of two football fields and the height of a three story building. The two were stunningly surprised that it could actually stay in the air.

Knuckles looked back to Sonic. "How do you know that'll actually work?" he questioned.

"There's the problem… I don't know," Sonic replied, before he jetted upward towards the mother ship.

"Sonic! Wait!" Knuckles exclaimed, and he flew up after him.

Dr. Eggman was sitting back and relaxing on the top floor of the ship, watching the chaos unfold down below. He switched between TV stations to see channel after channel of reporters talking about the devastation in the city and how people are panicking and evacuating. The man chuckled and sat back in his seat.

"Oh how I love to see the misery of others," he said to himself.

Then there was a sharp turbulence, causing the ship to rock back and forth sharply. Eggman heard crashing sounds that continuously grew louder, and he stood up, murmuring "Hmm?" under his breath. And suddenly, Super Sonic crashed through the floor and hovered above the doctor, glaring down at him.

"Ah, Sonic, I knew you'd be showing up sooner or later," Eggman said, calmly and collectively, as he still sat in his chair. With another crash, Hyper Knuckles too crashed through the floor and hovered near Sonic, also glaring at the doctor. "Hyper Knuckles… well now that's old school," Eggman commented blankly, "You haven't turned hyper in, what, 6 years?"

Knuckles looked to Sonic. "I don't know about you, but I think it's about time we kicked some fat doctor's behind, don't you think Sonic?" the echidna asked his companion with a sneer. Sonic smirked as well in reply and huffed.

"Well well well Eggman; you're s super genius millionaire with enough knowledge and resources to make this world a better place, and yet you decide to waste it in countless robots and ships that ultimately get you nowhere!" Sonic said, cracking his knuckles. "Looks like it's time to teach you another lesson," he said quietly.

However, to Sonic's surprise, the mad doctor began to laugh, first quietly to himself, but then he grew louder and more hysterically. Sonic and Knuckles shared a confused glance, as the doctor continued to chuckle, rolling in his seat and covering his mouth with one hand.

"What's so funny?" Knuckles demanded.

"Oh hohoho! You are!" Eggman exclaimed. "I mean, c'mon 'Looks like it's time to teach you another lesson?' Bwahaha! It's just so funny! You actually think you can stop me!" he said, looking up with an evil grin upon his face.

Eggman stood to his feet and revealed a ray gun that he held this entire time in the seat of his chair. He clicked the gun on and it began to whir to life and glow.

"Hey, that looks just like…" Sonic murmured under his breath, but he didn't finish.

"I hope you enjoyed your puny life while it lasted…" Eggman said grimly, "Because your life is about to change." Eggman aimed and blasted the gun straight at Sonic, hitting him square in the chest. The gold hedgehog screamed, but it quickly echoed and vanished. Knuckles uncovered his eyes and looked to where the hedgehog was standing, but he was no longer there. He'd somehow vanished."SONIC!" Knuckles exclaimed, and he growled and turned at Eggman. He blindly rushed the doctor, ready to attack, when ithout turning the ray off, Eggman then aimed the blast towards Knuckles, shooting him as well. Knuckles screamed, as the kick from the gun sent his flying backwards, straight through the window of the ship. The window shattered, and Knuckles was in a free fall, forty-two thousand feet to the ground. Knuckles' power dwindled, his vision faded, his fur darkened from light lavender back to red, as he plummeted to his doom.

"Gotcha!" a voice cried, and he was no longer falling, but he couldn't see who it was, for unconsciousness was creeping up on him. Someone was shaking him and gently tapping his cheek, telling him to wake up.

"S-Sonic… he's… gone," Knuckles murmured, before everything went black.


	2. Chapter 1

"Knuckles…" a voice called, "Rise and shine."

Knuckles moaned and opened his eyes. He blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted to the light, then he sat up and rubbed at his face. He noticed that his gloves were not on his hands anymore, and upon lifting the covers off his body, ne realized the same with his socks and shoes.

"Ugh… what happened?" he murmured to himself groggily, unaware of another person's presence in the room.

"You passed out, that's what happened," a voice replied, and Knuckles quickly turned his head to the source of the sound. A figure sat, leaning up against the wall on one side of the room with his arms crossed at his chest. "Good to see you're finally up though," he continued, as the figure got up and stepped towards Knuckles. He was a fox, about his height, with dark brown fur and a lighter gold muzzle and tail. He was wearing a black shirt and knit cap, and had long hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. "…Your gloves and footwear were both pretty badly burnt and torn. I figured they'd be useless to keep, so I took them off while you were asleep and threw them away," he continued. The fox had a thick British accent and a low voice.

"Wh… What? Who are you… and where am I?" Knuckles asked, confused, as he began to rub his sore head. The fox drew closer to Knuckles, a stern look on his face. Knuckles feared he may have angered the fox and sunk lower in the bed. The fox stopped right above him and unexpectedly extended a hand to the confused echidna.

"The name's Xavier," he introduced firmly. Knuckles cautiously took Xavier's hand, expecting him to shake his hand, but he instead pulled him right off the bed and stood him up.

"Uh… n-nice to meet you," Knuckles replied quietly, slowly shaking the fox's hand. With one quick turn, Xavier took Knuckles to a small wardrobe in one corner of the room. He flung one door open and pulled out a black t-shirt and knit cap like he wore, both folded nicely in his arms.

"Here, put these on, quick," he said, thrusting the clothing articles towards Knuckles.

"Why? What's going on?" he asked, pushing the clothes away from himself.

"I have strict orders to take you to our clan leader once you've awoken," Xavier replied strictly, and he shoved the clothes towards Knuckles again.

"Why?" Knuckles asked.

"Even I don't know that," Xavier replied. That kept Knuckles quiet, and without further question, he obeyed and put on the shirt and hat. Once finished, Xavier took Knuckles' hand once again and led him to the closed door.

Xavier placed a finger in his left ear, and a beep was heard. "Sir, he's awake," he spoke into a communication device in his ear. Then he turned to Knuckles and spoke. "When I give you the signal, we run. Keep your footsteps quiet, and not a single word," Xavier commanded. With a quick nod of the head, Xavier opened the door a crack and peeked out. Guessing the coast was clear, he made a break for it, dragging Knuckles along with him. They snuck through the halls quickly and quietly; Xavier's shoes barely made a single tapping sound as he skillfully led the newcomer through the maze of hallways and passages. They never actually came up against anyone, so Knuckles still had no idea who they were hiding from.

At one point, they stopped and pressed up against the side of the wall. This was Knuckles' chance. He leaned closer to the fox's ear and whispered, "Why are we sneaking around?"

"We are directly below enemy territory," Xavier replied, "One single slip up, and we could reveal our base's secret location and our mission would be compromised."

"Who exactly are we up against here?" Knuckles asked.

"Emperor Robotnik," Xavier replied. "He's got a nasty temper, a stone-cold heart, and thousands of robots at his beck and call. And what's worse; he makes these robots out of living animals! He calls it the 'Robotinization' process."

Knuckles' eyes widened, and he shook his head. "Wait wait wait… are you talking about Eggman?! The guy's a clumsy oaf and his inventions always _fail_!" he questioned, as loud as he could whisper.

"Ssshhh!" Xavier quickly shushed him, covering his mouth with one hand, and he looked over the corner to make sure nobody was walking by and happened to hear. He looked back to Knuckles and removed his hand. "A lot has happened in the last two weeks while you were gone," he whispered harshly in response, and he quickly grabbed Knuckles' hand again and they were off again.

"Hold on, I've been unconscious for _two whole weeks_?!" Knuckles exclaimed as they ran. Xavier did not respond, he just kept running.

Very quickly, they came up to a dead end, with only a vent alongside one wall.

"Oh great, a dead end; now what, genius?" Knuckles said, as they slowed to a stop.

Xavier approached the vent and reached into his pocket, while Knuckles leaned against the wall for a moment to catch his breath.

"So let me get this *huff* straight…" he said as he stood straight again, "I've been unconscious for two weeks, and during that time, Eggman took over the entire world?!" he questioned, as Xavier was bent over the vent shaft, working on removing the screws with some electronic tool.

"Not the world, just this city," Xavier grunted, as he twisted the last bolt. "But other than that, pretty much," he said, as he stood back up. With one quick yank, the cover on the vent creaked and groaned as it off. Knuckles had apparently not thought of that as an escape option, and he huffed in surprise.

"Oh… okay," he murmured to himself, and he walked up to the fox. Xavier laid the piece of metal aside and crouched back down. "Okay, let's go," he said, and he crawled into the small, cramped shaft with Knuckles following close behind.

"So… what, are you like a spy or something?" Knuckles asked as they crawled on their hands and knees through the tight shaft. His voice bounced off the walls of the vent and echoed through the whole place.

"How many times do I have to say, shush!" Xavier snapped in a loud whisper.

"Sorry," Knuckles whispered. They continued onward in the dark vents silently for a small while. Knuckles began to notice a rancid odor that began to waft through the vents, and Knuckles couldn't help but gag at the repulsive scent.

"Ugh, what's that smell?" he whispered, reaching up with one hand to plug his nose.

"It's coming from the dungeons. We're directly above them right now," Xavier responded. "Emperor Robotnik would capture anyone who refuses to obey him and throw them in the dungeons to rot or be roboticized."

"That's horrible!" Knuckles replied.

"Yeah," Xavier said quieter, "We've lost many valiant soldiers thanks to that tyrant… including Briana…" Xavier's voice trailed off for a moment, but then he cleared his throat and finished his sentence, his voice devoid of any emotion. "…But there's no way to get into those dungeons. Every prisoner is doomed to meet their horrifying demise, one way or another."

"I'm so sorry," Knuckles replied quietly. Xavier never responded, and it was silent the rest of the way.

As Knuckles was finally beginning to grow used to the smells of the dungeons, he ran right into Xavier; it was so dark in there that Knuckles didn't notice that he'd stopped.

"Wait right here," Xavier commanded, and Knuckles responded with a quick "okay" before the fox crawled onward.

Knuckles stayed put like he was told, listening to the slight thumping and grunting sounds Xavier made as he did whatever he was doing up ahead. As he waited, Knuckles began to notice a slight queasiness creeping up on him. "_Must be this disgusting smell… ugh, it's making me sick!"_ he thought.

There was a loud groaning sound of metal against metal, as light began to pour into the vents. Knuckles squinted and turned his head, but he heard Xavier call to him. "C'mon Knuckles, come to the light," he said, his voice echoing. Knuckles crawled towards the opening, squinting more as the light grew brighter, and then he was in an open room.

"Quickly men, help him out," Xavier commanded, and suddenly there were a few more animals grabbing onto his shirt by the sleeves and pulling him out of the vent; three were foxes and two were hedgehogs. They quickly stood him up, and one hedgehog brushed off his shoulder, before Knuckles looked around curiously. He was in a small, grey room with computer screens lining the walls. Bleeping and whirring sounds from the computers were heard, along with inaudible conversation from behind a closed door.

Xavier approached the door and knocked. "Sir, I've brought the guest, like you asked," he called through the door, and then he stepped back. A few more seconds of inaudible communication was heard before the door swung open to reveal a familiar face; "Tails?" Knuckles exclaimed, as a small smile crept on his face. The young golden and white fox stood before him with a straight face, his twin tails twitching slightly. He was wearing a black shirt and hat just like all the others. Knuckles took a few steps towards him and removed the hat he wore. "Oh man, am I glad to see you!" he exclaimed, dropping it on the floor as he took another step closer to the familiar fox. Suddenly, all the guards in the room besides Xavier stepped in front of Knuckles and blocked him from getting close to Tails with the swords they carried with them. Knuckles immediately froze, petrified, and he raised his hands in the air.

"Whoa whoa, chill, I mean him no harm," he said nervously. One of the hedgehog soldiers forced his sword closer to Knuckles and retorted.

"We don't trust newcomers, punk!"

"At ease men," Tails spoke calmly, raising one hand to signify them to stop, "He is of no harm to me; he is my friend," he said, and the men lowered their swords.

Knuckles slowly lowered his hands, staring at the soldiers for a few seconds before he looked to Tails. "What's going on here?" he demanded to know.

Tails looked at the confused and startled echidna for a moment, before he turned to his men. "You men are no longer needed. All but you two may go," he said, gesturing to Xavier and one other fox soldier. The men quickly left, shutting the door behind them.

Now that they were alone, Tails turned back to Knuckles and spoke again. "Well Knuckles, good to see you're finally awake," he said, a small smile appearing on his face.

"Yeah…" Knuckles slowly replied, "It's been a heck of a strange morning…" he admitted.

"I bet you're completely confused," Tails said, a hint of humor in his voice. Knuckles reached back and scratched at the back of his neck.

"Uh, well, I kind of got the gist of what's going on; Eggman took over the city and became a tyrannical dictator, nothing more than what he's usually trying to do," Knuckles responded.

"Well, that's a very blatant way of saying it, but yes," Tails said, and he put his arms behind his back. "Eggman took over the entire city and forced everyone to obey him. He named himself 'Emperor Robotnik,'" Tails began.

"Yeah, Xavier told me that," Knuckles added, before Tails continued.

"He built a great metal wall around the city to prevent anyone from coming in or going out. He's forced everyone to hand over their valuables and possessions to him. He's just sitting around, rolling in wealth, while everyone else is so poor, they could barely afford one meal per day. The people of the city are starving and dying out there, and we are their only hope for a brighter future," Tails explained. "We are a secret group of freedom fighters called the Robins; we steal food and money from Emperor Robotnik's castle and give it to the people, kind of like Robin Hood and his merry men. But we do all our charity in secret; we steal from Eggman in the dead of night and leave the gifts at the peoples' doorsteps. By now, they know to check their doorsteps every morning, before the Egg Fleets begin their patrols."

"There are two clans of Robins in the city. I am the leader of the Northern Robins; we take care of the upper half of the city, while the Southern Robins take care of the lower half. I'm known as Miles by my comrades, although I guess I could let it slide in your case, if you wish to call me Tails."

The story definitely was hard to grasp, but Knuckles had a surprisingly easy time understanding everything, and he kept silent as Tails spoke.

"Is everything clear to you now?" Tails asked. Knuckles nodded.

"I just have one question," he said. "How did he actually end up succeeding this time around?"

"I don't know what you're saying," Tails said.

"What I'm saying is, how could Sonic possibly allow Eggman to do all this? He never lets him win!" Knuckles responded, louder than the first time he asked.

Tails' lip quivered slightly, as sadness began to flood into his eyes. He sighed and slowly walked up to Knuckles to place a hand on his shoulder. "Knuckles… Sonic's gone," he said quietly. Knuckles huffed, for he didn't understand what was going on.

"What do you mean 'gone'?" he asked with a small chuckle.

"He's… disappeared. You said it yourself when I rescued you from falling to your death. I set out in search of him after I put you somewhere safe, but you were right; he's nowhere to be found," Tails replied solemnly.

Suddenly, upon mentioning, the memories began flooding back. Knuckles gasped and his eyes widened as he remembered that fateful day, two weeks before.

_Super Sonic and Hyper Knuckles floated before Eggman. _

_Eggman stood to his feet and revealed a ray gun that he held this entire time in the seat of his chair. _

"_I hope you enjoyed your puny life while it lasted…" Eggman said grimly, "Because your life is about to change." _

_He blasted the gun at Sonic, hitting him square in the chest. The gold hedgehog screamed, but it quickly echoed and vanished. Knuckles uncovered his eyes and looked to where the hedgehog was standing, but he was no longer there. He'd somehow vanished! _

"_SONIC!" Knuckles exclaimed, and he growled and turned at Eggman. All the while, the doctor was laughing like a madman, mockingly at Sonic's fate, and it infuriated him. Knuckles blindly rushed the doctor, growling, ready to attack. Then Eggman shot him as well. Everything in his body stung._

_The kick from the gun sent his flying backwards, straight through the window of the ship. The next thing he knew, Knuckles was in a free fall, the ground rushing towards him fast. Knuckles' vision was fading as unconsciousness crept up on him. He was growing cold._

"_Gotcha!" a voice cried, and with a jolt, he was no longer falling._

_Someone was shaking him and gently tapping his cheek, telling him to wake up._

"_S-Sonic… he's… gone," Knuckles murmured, before everything went black._

Knuckles stumbled a few steps backward as the memory hit like a ton of bricks, and he shook his head. His breathing was heavier, his chest rising and falling rapidly, as his eyes darted back down to Tails.

"Oh my god…" he said, "You're right… I-I remember now!"

Tails approached him again and had him sit down on the floor. "What did you see?" he asked him with a gentle voice, as he stroked Knuckles' shaking shoulders.

Knuckles swallowed hard, when he realized his throat was dry, and spoke. "W-We were there, in Eggman's floating base. We were about to stop him, and he p-pulled out a ray gun from behind his seat," he explained. "H-He shot Sonic with it, and he just… disappeared. No sooner than when he shot Sonic, he aimed it at me," he re-capped. Tails began to get a little more impatient at this point.

"Tell me more about this ray gun," he said quickly, "Any label on it; did Eggman say anything indicating what it might do?" Knuckles thought for a moment before he shook his head.

"No, all he said was 'Hope you enjoyed your life while it lasted, because it's about to change.' Nothing about what it did," Knuckles replied. He squinted as he thought back to what the gun looked like. "The gun looked familiar though… I'm not really sure why. I think Sonic recognized it too, before Eggman blasted him," he said. Tails quickly stood up and went to his desk. He opened a drawer and dug out a piece of scrap paper and a pen, then brought it with him and sat back down.

"Here, draw it for me; maybe I might be able to recognize it also," he said, clicking the pen and handing it to Knuckles. He took the pen from the fox and began to sketch a drawing of the ray gun. Once he finished, he pointed with the pen to different parts of the gun and told Tails their colors.

"Shit!" Tails exclaimed, much to Knuckles' surprise, and he quickly stood up and began to pace, murmuring unhappily to himself.

"What's wrong? Do you know what it does?" Knuckles asked as he approached the nervously pacing fox.

"Just wait," Tails said, and he bolted for his desk and bent over the keyboard. He began to frantically type in coordinates and numbers. Knuckles slowly approached his friend, looking up at the computer monitor above them. He was sifting through files marked "Past Inventions." One picture after another appeared on the screen of familiar old machines that the inventive fox had created. After a few more moments of silence and the clacking of keys, the picture Tails was looking for appeared on the screen.

"That's it! That's the gun right there!" Knuckles exclaimed, pointing to it. Tails moaned and let his face fall into his hands.

"Oh no… " he murmured. Knuckles looked down to the fox and cocked his head. "Not again," the fox whispered to himself, shaking his head in his hands.

"What's wrong Tails?" Knuckles asked. Tails lifted his head back up and looked to Knuckles.

"Do you remember this old invention?" Tails asked Knuckles, gesturing up to it. Knuckles shook his head no. "I figured so," Tails sighed. "That was that old ray I made three summers ago that was supposed to add 3 years onto your life," he said.

"Oh wait, I remember that ray!" Knuckles said, his tone becoming angry, "That was when you tricked me into testing it for you, only to find it didn't add years, it subtracted them! I was stuck as a slobbering 3-year-old for the whole day because of that invention of yours!" he said bitterly.

"Yeah, well, somehow Eggman copied my invention and used it on both of you! That means that somewhere around here, Sonic's wandering around as a helpless toddler, if he wasn't already captured by the doctor already!" Tails exclaimed. He got back up and began to pace again. Knuckles looked back down at the sketch of the ray that he'd drawn.

"…But then… why didn't it affect me?" he pondered out loud. As he looked at the sketch, he realized something; there was a part on the ray he'd drawn that wasn't on the ray displayed up on the screen, a small dial alongside the starting mechanism. "Hey… what's this extra piece here?" he asked, looking to Tails and pointing at the paper. Tails looked up fast and quickly ran up and snatched the paper from him, exclaiming "where?" as he did so.

"Right there. See that dial?" Knuckles asked, pointing to it in the drawing. Tails put one hand to his chin and hummed in thought.

"I might not be 100% correct here, but… it looks like a dial used to control the amount of something," Tails said, studying the drawing. "But what exactly was he trying to control, that's the question," he murmured.

Knuckles shrugged. "Who knows? The amount of power sent to the gun, the amount of years taken off, the strength of the shot-"

"Whoa, wait, say that last thing again!" Tails stopped Knuckles there.

"The strength of the shot?"

"No, the part before that!"

"Uh… the amount of years taken off?" Tails' fists clenched around the paper, and he whipped his head up to Knuckles.

"Quick, Knuckles, think back again; were you able to read what the options on the dial said?" he urgently asked.

"Um, I dunno, maybe..?" Knuckles stammered. "I could try." He closed his eyes and though back to the moment Eggman pulled out the gun. That's when time began to go in slow motion.

_As Eggman slowly reached his finger for the trigger, Knuckles turned his head towards the doctor and his large ray gun. He squinted his eyes at the gun, as it began to whir and spark. The dial on the side had 5 numbers on it._

"The dial had 5 settings," Knuckles said out loud, his eyes still closed. "It went from -9 to 36, counting by nines," he said. "It looks like it's set on -9."

"Were there labels next to the numbers signifying what each number stood for… days, months, years?" Tails asked.

Knuckles clenched his eyes shut even tighter. "Umm…" he hummed. "It looks… like it says… months," he said.

"Shit shit shit!" Tails cried, and Knuckles opened his eyes to see Tails, his hand slapped against his face and his teeth clenched.

"Jeez kid, stop swearing like that! You're only 10!" Knuckles responded. Tails looked up to Knuckles, and before he even knew what was happening, he was up in Knuckles' face, grabbing his shirt, and pinning him against the wall.

"Answer me this question; did Eggman _turn off_ the ray before he blasted you too?" Tails demanded sourly, scowling right near Knuckles' face.

"No! Why? Was he supposed to?" Knuckles exclaimed in response.

"Yes!" Tails shouted, throwing down Knuckles' collar and turning his back on him to sigh dramatically.

"Look, would you mind explaining to me just what the hell is going on here?" Knuckles demanded.

"Oh, you're so dense!" Tails muttered under his breath, and he turned to face the echidna. "Eggman put a meter on his ray gun so he could control how old he can turn the victims of the ray. He had the ray set to -9 months old; how old is that?!" Tails quizzed him. Knuckles' angry face turned to a nervous one once he realized.

"Th-That would make him… not even born yet!" he said quietly.

"Exactly! Eggman turned Sonic into a F**ing embryo!" Tails exclaimed. "But, instead of turning the ray off, to allow Sonic's miniscule new form drop to the floor and die, he aimed the gun straight. At. You." Tails glared Knuckles down for a few seconds before his look softened, and he bit at his lip as his eyes trailed down from Knuckles' eyes to his body.

Knuckles backed up a step. "W-What're you looking at me for?" he cautiously asked. Tails looked back up to Knuckles' eyes to show great nervousness in them, then opened his mouth to speak.

"Y-You're… carrying Sonic's embryo… inside you!" he said quietly.

* * *

_Bam! There's the reveal! Now the cat's out of the bag!_

_More chapters are coming soon, promise! So stay tuned, and don't forget to fave and comment!_


	3. Chapter 2

Knuckles was silent for a few moments, before he started to laugh. Confused by his odd behavior, Tails cocked head and raised a brow at him. Knuckles spoke while still laughing slightly.

"That's a good one Tails! You almost had me going there!"

"Knuckles, this is no joke; this is serious," Tails said, his tone turning grave. Knuckles' laughing stopped as Tails spoke, but he chuckled once more afterwards.

"Y'know Tails, the premise of a good joke is to, sooner or later, admit it's a joke," he said, reaching forward and ruffling the fur on Tails' forehead. "Augh!" Tails grunted angrily as he did so, and he grumpily fixed his hair before looking back to Knuckles, who'd walked past him to look at the ray gun still displayed on the monitor. "…And also, try to make the story a little more believable next time," Knuckles added, and he turned to the fox. "I mean, Sonic shrinking into an embryo? That's a little far-fetched, don't you think?"

And suddenly, Tails came up to him and slapped Knuckles across the face. The sharp sting surprised him, and he shot a glare down at the young fox.

"Shut the hell up, you dense echidna! This is no laughing matter; the fate of our world rests entirely on you, and you think this is some sort of joke?!" Tails snapped viciously. "If this was some prank, then explain this!" Tails then pulled up Knuckles' black shirt. His eyes trailed down to where Tails pointed, to find that his stomach was the slightest bit swelled, the size that someone 2 weeks pregnant would have. How he missed it when he woke up or changed into that shirt, he had no idea, but now that he noticed it, Knuckles fell speechless and stared at it.

"Do you believe me now?" Tails exclaimed, and he released his grip on Knuckles' shirt. A few more seconds of stunned silence passed, before Knuckles poked it and stammered, "Wh-What? H-How?"

"You know how," Tails replied.

"No, I mean how the f*ck is this possible?" Knuckles exclaimed in the fox's face. "This is a dream! This has to be a crazy, f*cked up dream!" he told himself.

Without warning, Tails slapped Knuckles, harder this time, enough to throw the unsuspecting echidna a few steps back.

Now very angry, Knuckles growled and charged at Tails, ready to hit him back, but that's when Xavier and the other guard joined in. The fox soldier punched Knuckles in the face, throwing him back and away from his leader, and while Knuckles was distracted, Xavier grabbed Knuckles from behind in a choke hold. He held Knuckles tight as the other guard stepped forward, ready to hit Knuckles again. That's when Tails stepped in and exclaimed, "Stop! Hit him once more and I'll relinquish your guarding duties and have you thrown out of the freedom fighters!" The guard immediately stopped and backed away, his head bowed. Xavier released Knuckles from his iron grip and did the same, letting Knuckles fall to the ground, gasping for air.

Tails approached the heavily-breathing echidna, now bleeding from a cut on his left cheek, and crouched down to look him in the eyes.

"Still think this is a dream?" he asked with a stern face. Knuckles coughed between gasps, and he lowered his eyes back to the ground, not answering.

"Take him back to the infirmary," Tails said, looking back to Xavier, "I'll catch up with you." The fox nodded, then bent down to help the echidna up. Tails walked to his computer desk and sighed, leaning his hands against it. He watched as Xavier helped Knuckles up and led him to the exit.

"Oh, and Xavier?" Tails called.

The other fox looked to his leader.

"Get him something to eat. I'm sure by now he's famished," Tails said.  
"Yes sir," Xavier said with a nod, and the two were gone.

"Sir? I-I'm sorry for before. I was only trying to protect you," the remaining fox soldier stammered, standing near the corner of the room.

Without looking at the fox, Tails spoke unhappily. "It's okay. You were only doing what you were told," he said as he grabbed a pen from the metal cup on his desk.

"Thank you sir. It won't happen again, I assure you," the soldier said, more relaxed than before.

"Good. Now go please… I wish to be alone for a moment," Tails said, gesturing with the pen towards the door. The soldier nodded and swiftly exited, leaving Tails in privacy.

The fox twirled the pen between his fingers for a moment, before he glumly looked up to the wall in front of him. There, hung on the wall, was a photograph of him and Sonic posing happily with goofy smiles on their faces. He sighed.

"Oh Sonic… what am I supposed to do?" he whispered, "I-I didn't want to be so cruel to Knuckles, I just… I don't think I can do this on my own. I'm trying to seem like a tough and wise leader… but I don't think I have what it takes! Why'd you have to go Sonic? We need you!"

Defeated when, as he expected, no response followed, Tails let his head fall onto his desk. Eyes clenched shut, he forced himself not to cry.

Once he opened his eyes, he was staring down at the desk under his face to find his head was laying on top of some paperwork, the top page being his last letter received from the leader of the Freedom Fighters group across town, the Southern Robins. That gave Tails an idea, and he quickly raised his head.

"That's it!" he exclaimed, and he reached for the phone on his desk and made a call.

Back in the infirmary, Xavier sat Knuckles down in one of the beds, after giving him a cloth and bandage to clean out his cut and a can of peaches to eat. Xavier sat down on a chair next to him and watched him silently.

Knuckles had never really noticed how starving he was until he was given the can of fruit, and he didn't question and started to eat them, saving the sweet syrupy juice for last.

It was uncomfortably silent as Knuckles ate, and Xavier just sat there. Knuckles slowed his pace and looked to Xavier awkwardly. He didn't even have the chance to say anything yet.

"Why peaches you might ask? Because everyone doesn't have very much food, even us," Xavier said. "Emperor Robotnik hoarded most of the food supply and bought out all the crops from the farmers. We steal food from his hoard and give it to _others_, not for ourselves," he said sternly.

"…Um, I wasn't really going to ask, but… thanks for the information I guess," Knuckles muttered before he looked towards the other end of the room. It was silent for a few more seconds.

"Look, I'm sorry I attacked you," Xavier said quietly. "I was just following orders."

"It's okay, I'm not mad at you," Knuckles responded coolly, and he looked to him. "I'm mad at the situation." Xavier cleared his throat and looked away, as the uncomfortable silence returned.

Knuckles thought back to what tails said, and he cautiously glanced down at his stomach again. It was still there, he could see the slight bulge protruding from his shirt; either he was still dreaming, or this was some real shit.

Knuckles gulped as a lump formed in his throat, and he gently touched his belly, the feeling of fabric pushing against his stretched skin.

"So, you're… um, 'carrying', this Sonic the hedgehog character then?" Xavier awkwardly spoke up. Knuckles quickly looked to him and lowered his hand; the fox was looking at him with a strange glance.

"I… don't know," he responded quietly. "I don't know what to believe right now." Xavier looked back down at his hands folded on his lap, the quietness eating away at him.

"I've seen him once," Xavier spoke again, "When I was five." He paused a moment, as his eyes began to drift off in a daze, before continuing. "…He saved my family from being crushed by a rockslide. I caught a glimpse of him before he took off; he smiled at me and waved, before he sped away so fast that he became a blur of blue fur," Xavier remembered. He looked back to Knuckles with a slight smile. "If he's half the hero he was back then, I know he can dethrone Robotnik and regain peace to the city," he added.

"Yeah…" Knuckles murmured, "He's a heck of a great guy… even though I never really appreciated his company whenever he was around." Knuckles sighed and looked down at his feet. Xavier looked at him, hoping for more of an explanation, but that's when Tails came into the room, and the fox forgot about it and stood at attention.

"Hello Knuckles, Xavier," Tails spoke as he walked inside. "I trust Xavier here has been treating you well?" he asked his red companion. Knuckles never looked to Tails, but nodded slowly. "Good," Tails responded, as he walked up to him. He could see how troubled he was, and he felt sympathetic.

"Don't worry Knuckles, I promise you this is going to be as painless as possible," he said, placing a hand on top of Knuckles' and patting it. Knuckles' body suddenly tensed, and his head turned to face him fast.

"Oh god, you're not going to cut him out of me, are you?!" he exclaimed yanking his hand away. This time, it was Tails' turn to giggle.

"No, no, I meant that I'll be here for you to help," he said, a smile forming as he watched Knuckles' form sink in relief.

Tails turned and walked over to the doctor equipment on the other side of the infirmary room. He came back with a stethoscope, and he began putting the ends in his ears.

"Okay, let's take a look here," he said, holding up the end that goes on the patient's skin.

"I thought that was just for checking your heartbeat?" Knuckles asked curiously.

"It is," Tails replied, "But this group is mainly men, and I don't exactly have an Ultrasound machine with me. This is the next best thing; I can at least try to hear the heartbeat through this," he said. Then he lifted up Knuckles' shirt over his belly and placed the stethoscope onto his stomach. Slightly embarrassed, Knuckles' eyes trailed away from Tails to Xavier, and his face began to flush.

Tails placed the piece on several areas of Knuckles' belly, trying to find a good heartbeat. A few moments later, he removed the stethoscope and took the buds from his ears.

"Well, it was difficult and very faint, but I could pick up a second heartbeat, besides your own," Tails said.

"So… it's true then?" Knuckles asked.

"It would appear so," Tails replied quietly.

Knuckles grew quiet again, so Tails placed a hand on the echidna's tense shoulder and spoke. "Look, I know you're scared; this is new for you, and I understand if you want some privacy. But first, I have some good news." Knuckles looked him in the eyes, waiting for him to continue. "I contacted the leader of the Southern Robins, and he agreed to come over and help aid you while you're out of commission. I'm sure you remember him," he said, as he looked to the door. Standing in the doorway was an ebony colored hedgehog with red markings and ruby eyes, his arms folded across his chest; Shadow the hedgehog.


End file.
